Dec 02, 2024  
2020-2021 Academic Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Integrative Knowledge of an Educated Person (R, S, V, Z)


When students have completed these courses they will have the power to live and work intelligently, responsibly, and cooperatively in a complex and ever-changing multicultural society.  They will be able to use disciplined analytic skills and creative techniques to problem-solve and innovate. They will have the power to make wise decisions, to navigate the multicultural societies within and outside of the US, and to communicate these understandings through effective writing.

Learning Goals for Science (R) Courses: Earth and Environment

Students will cultivate knowledge of the scientific study of the physical universe or its life forms. Students will understand and appreciate the interrelationship of science and human beings to each other.

Within the particular scientific content of the course, a student should be able to:

  1. demonstrate an understanding of the methods and limits of scientific investigation;
  2. distinguish science from pseudo-science; and
  3. apply a scientific approach to answer questions about the earth and environment.

Learning Goals for Social Science (S) Courses: Self, Society and Equality in the United States

Students will study the interrelationship of individuals, racial groups, and cultural groups to understand and appreciate issues of diversity, equality, and structured inequality in the U.S., its institutions, and its cultures.

After successfully completing the course, students shall be able to:

  1. describe how identities (i.e. religious, gender, ethnic, racial, class, sexual orientation, disability, and/or age) are shaped by cultural and societal influences within contexts of equality and inequality;
  2. describe historical, social, political, and economic processes producing diversity, equality, and structured inequalities in the U.S.;
  3. describe social actions which have led to greater equality and social justice in the U.S. (i.e. religious, gender, ethnic, racial, class, sexual orientation, disability, and/or age).; and
  4. recognize and appreciate constructive interactions between people from different cultural, racial, and ethnic groups within the U.S.

Learning Goals for Humanities (V) Courses: Culture, Civilization, and Global Understanding

Courses in Culture, Civilization, and Global Understanding should give students an appreciation for human expression in cultures outside the U.S. and an understanding of how that expression has developed over time. These courses should also increase students’ understanding of how traditions of cultures outside the U.S. have influenced American culture and society, as well as how cultures in general both develop distinctive features and interact with other cultures.

After successfully completing the course, students shall be able to:

  1. compare systematically the ideas, values, images, cultural artifacts, economic structures, technological developments, and/or attitudes of people from more than one culture outside the U.S.;
  2. identify the historical context of ideas and cultural traditions outside the U.S. and how they have influenced American culture; and
  3. explain how a culture outside the U.S. has changed in response to internal and external pressures.

Learning Goals for Written Communication (Z) Courses

Students shall be able to:

  1. Produce discipline-specific written work that demonstrates upper-division proficiency in:
    • language use
    • grammar
    • clarity of expression
  2. Explain, analyze, develop, and criticize ideas effectively, including ideas encountered in multiple readings and expressed in different forms of discourse
  3. Organize and develop essays and documents for both professional and general audiences
  4. Organize and develop essays and documents according to appropriate editorial and citation standards
  5. Locate, organize, and synthesize information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose, and to communicate that purpose in writing